REACHIN'
OUT

3 CD

Label:

Project Queen QP 2005 1/ 2/ 3

Country:

Japan

Released:

November 2005

Recorded:

Various shows from the European 2005 tour.

Sound:

Excellent soundboard recordings.
(All tracks).

Comments:

A complete collection of the officially downloads from www.queenonline.com.
Actually a nice release. All tracks are professional put
together, so it's sounds like a concert. No silent part between
the tracks. And again, all tracks professional
recorded. This 3CD are factory 'silver' pressed production.

DISC TWO
01. Seagull
(Barcelona April 2)
02. These Are The Days Of Our Lives
(Pesaro April 8)
03. Radio Ga Ga
(Vienna April 8)
04. Can't Get Enough
(Firenze April 7)
05. A Kind Of Magic
(Antwerpen April 20)
06. I Want It All
(Munich April 14)
07. Bohemian Rhapsody
(Rotterdam April 26)
08. The Show Must Go On
(Basel April 10)
09. All Right Now
(Frankfurt April 19)
10. We Will Rock You
(Prague April 16)
11. We Are The Champions
(Hamburg April 28)
12. God Save The Queen
(Hamburg April 28)
- - - - - Bonus tracks - -
- - -
13. Tie Your Mother Down
(Manchester May 4)
14. I Want To Break Free
(Prague April 16)
15. Crazy Little Thing Called Love
(Basel April 10)
16. Guitar Solo
(Firenze April 7)

EXTRA BONUS DISC
01. Intro : Reachin' Out
(Frankfurt April 19)
02. Tie Your Mother Down
(Frankfurt April 19)
03. I Want To Break Free
(Madrid April 1)
04. Fat Bottomed Girls
(Hamburg April 28)
05. Wishing Well
(Cardiff May 7)
06. Crazy Little Thing Called Love
(Paris March 30)
07. '39
(Rotterdam April 26)
08. Love Of My Life
(Barcelona April 2)
09. Hammer To Fall
(Antwerpen April 20)
10. I'm In Love With My Car
(Barcelona April 2)
11. These Are The Days Of Our Lives
(Rotterdam April 8)
12. Radio Ga Ga
(Dortmund April 25)
13. Can't Get Enough
(Madrid April 1)
14. A Kind Of Magic
(Birmingham May 6)
15. All Right Now
(Munich April 14)
16. We Will Rock You
(Pesaro April 8)
17. We Are The Champions
(Cardiff May 7)
18. God Save The Queen...
(Cardiff May 7)

Brian May and Roger Taylor's announcement in early 2005 of their reformed
Queen with Paul Rodgers on vocals was met with a healthy degree of
skepticism. I honestly thought it wasn't a good idea since Freddie
Mercury pretty much defined their sound and image. I thought, if
they wanted to proceed with this project, to at least call themselves
something other than Queen. Jimmy Page and Robert Plant had
the prudence to call themselves Page/Plant instead of carrying
out the Led Zeppelin name all by themselves. But they chose
their course with the blessings of John Deacon who didn't want to be
involved but didn't offer any public complaint either.

During
their tour in Europe this spring it seemed that every show was given
a cdr release by a plethora of minor labels in Japan. Reachin'
Out on the previously unknown Project Queen label is the first silver
release documenting this project and offers a comprehensive overview of
their tour in celebration of their visit to Japan. For over
three hours and close to fifty songs, all in superb soundboard quality
downloaded from their official website,
it sounds strange at first to hear Paul Rodger's distinctive voice singing
"Another One Bites The Dust" and "Bohemian Rhapsody",
but he brings his own style to the well known songs and, as much as I
didn't want to like it, it was hard to not be won over by his
enthusiasm and own talent.

Most
of the songs are given straight renditions to their studio and live
counterpoints although there is some experimentation with these live
arrangements. The opening to "White Man" is played as an
introduction to "Fat Bottom Girls". "Hammer To
Fall" begins in "It's Late" style before taking off in the
second verse, and Roger Taylor sings his songs like "These Are The
Days Of Our Lives" from Innuendo and "Radio
Ga-Ga". "'39" from Leipzig is included which is,
according to May, the first time he sang his song live. Calling this
the first song based
upon the theory of general relativity, he does a good job although he
flubs the first line of the second verse (and Taylor doesn't sing
harmony unfortunately).

There's
no doubt that Paul Rodgers has an amazing voice. May introduces
him as the greatest blues singer and they play some old Free songs
("Wishing Well" where Taylor and May add great harmonies and
"Alright Now") along with Bad Company material ("Feel
Like Making Love"). What he adds to the Queen material is
enjoyable. Freddie said before that the music and concept of Queen
transcended the individual members and this is really demonstrated in
this set. The bottom line is Reachin' Out is a great
collection to have if you don't want to chase after all the cdr releases
flooding the market. (GS)